Razor-strop



2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. R. TORRET Razor Strep.

Nag-229,342. V Patented June 29, 1880..

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v following is a full, clear, and exact description U I ED STATES PATENT OFF-roe.

JOSEPH R. TORREY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAZOR-STROP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,342, dated June 29, 1880.

Application filed January 1], 1879.

the city and county of Worcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Itazor-Strops; and I do hereby declare that the of thesame, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming a part of this sp'ecification, and in whieh- Figure 1 represents a side view of my improved razor-strop. .Fig. 2 represents a side view of the same strop turned a quarter-way around. Fig. 3 represents a side view of the central portion of the strop shown in Fig. 1, the elastic strop portion being removed. Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal central section on line A B, Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 represents a crosssection through the center of the strop shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the outer end.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, Iwill proceed to describe it more in detail.

In the drawings, the part marked 0 constitutesthe central portion of the strop, and in this instance it is made of wood of rectangular shape, and is provided with a cap-piece, D, and is also provided with two projecting guidepieces, a a, and three holes, (indicated by dotted lines in the drawings.)

The part marked E is the handle, which is provided with a screw-shank, F, which screwshank passes loosely through the cross-head Gr and screws into and through the sliding and strop-straining place H, said sliding and strop-straining place H being fitted to slide back and forth between the guide-projections a a.

A flexible strop part, I, is fitted so as to pass entirely around the central portion, 0, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, whereby, when the handle E is turned in one direction, the guide'rods b b, entering their respective holes in the part 0, prevent the part 0 from being drawn toward the handle E, while the sliding and stretching part H is drawn back toward the handle by means of the screw-shank F, thereby straining the flexible strop part I to any desired degree of tension,

and when so strained it occupies the position indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The sides of the stropping part I are not only flexible, but are cushioned, whereby the sharpeniiig-surfaces O O of the flexible part I are rendered so delicate, soft, and yielding as not to bend and curl up the front edge of the razor-blade, which an ordinary elastic strop will do. Particularly is this the case in what are called concaved razor-blades, the construction of which is such that the front part of the blade will yield to pressure and bend up, which is owing to the center of the blade being made concave and very thin; and my present invention is designed and adapted to overcome this objection.

For convenience and ease of operation a washer, c, is placed between the cross-piece G and ferrule of the handle.

One of the exposed sides, 0, of the central part, 0, is covered with a hard hone-like material, whereby the dull rounded edge of a razor can be reduced very rapidly, and this is the surface to which the-razor is applied when the sharpening operation commences. It is next applied to the surface 0 of the flexible strop part I, which is also covered with a substance which acts less powerfully upon the razorblade, and which tends to bring the edge to the desired sharpness, and after the razor has been subjected to this surface 0 it is subjected to the action of the flexible stroppingsurface 0' of the strop part I, the coating of which acts less powerfully than the coating on the surface 0, whereby the edge of the razor is reduced to that degree which enables it to be finished to a very delicate cutting-edge by applying it to the hard smooth leather surface 0, and this last surface, being applied to and supported by the wooden central part, 0, is sustained and held so that it has an unyielding back, and practical tests have proved that a razor-strop thus made-i. 0., with one unyielding surface covered with a coating which gives it the character of a hone, and two yielding-surfaces, varying in their action as above described, with a fourth surface of clear smooth leather having an unyielding back-enables the operator to sharpen his razor in a more expeditious and perfect manner than by any of the razor-strops in use previous to my present invention.

As the guide-rods b b always remain in the central part, 0, and the part H slides back and forth upon them between the projecting guidepieces a. a, and the cross-piece G takes a firm bearing against the ferrule of the handle E, the parts are not liable to become broken or weakened by use, nor are they liable to become disconnected in any way.

As the elastic stropping sides (1 d are so strained as to leave open spaces f f between their inner surfaces and the central part, 0, they are not liable to become puifed or bunched up in use.

I hereby disclaim a razor-strop having combined therewith two unyielding surfaces and two elastic surfaces.

JOSEPH R. TORREY.

Witnesses:

J OHN G. DEWEY, EDWIN E. MOORE. 

